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Iron Tail
Iron Tail (Character) Iron Tail '''("iron tairru") is a fan-made character that was originally made for the Klonoa franchise, and the protagonist of '''The Adventures of Iron Tail. Created on the 28th of October 2008, the character used to go by the name of 'Furry Warrior'. Since then, Iron Tail has become one of the well-known OCs (Original Characters) - though he has gone through several changes before that. Artist FazzEagle is credited for the character's creation. Iron Tail is portrayed as a mix of both a fox and a cat - two animals that the artist personally likes - who dreams of becoming the 'Greatest Hero of All Time'. His destiny on fighting against evil (or the 'Baddies' as he calls them) was secured when the 'Magical Bracelet', an ancient relic said to grant the owner amazing powers, chose him to become it's new master. Other than that, Iron Tail is known to have a big tail as strong as iron, which is a major part in his attacks, and of course, dedicated to his own name. Contents #Creation of the Character #Personality #Appearance #Background #Abilities #Allies #Enemies #Unlocked Potential/Super Form #Appearances in the Series Creation of the Character ''' At first, FazzEagle wanted a '''Klonoa OC because his friends had them and he liked them very much. From there, he decided to make his own so he could share with them - though he didn't think the character would go far at first. He has been quoted to say that 'Gar the Ca't' and ''Kunaru' were two of his biggest inspirations: "I really liked the concept of Gar. He's a cat, and he has a really long tail. It sounds so simple, yet it felt so unique to me. Kunaru, on the other hand, was a Klonoa OC who didn't have much of a background, but I liked the fact that he was cute and how everyone else shared my views. They were simple, yet you just can't say they're 'too simple' or 'dull'. If you think about it, Sonic the Hedgehog was kind of simple as well. He didn't need weapons and heck, he doesn't even need clothes!" In light of this, FazzEagle wanted his own fan character to be unique as well, a character that was simple yet appealing to many. His early concepts for Iron Tail showed him as having pants similar to that of Klonoa's and looked more 'cool'. At that time, Iron Tail went on with the name of 'Dash', and that he had psychic powers. FazzEagle, however, thought this was too 'over-used' and didn't think such a character would last long. After a long time of thinking and design changing (even to a point the character looked similar to a 'cabbit', the species of Klonoa), he thought it would actually be unique if the character would be known for one particular characteristic, like Sonic having great speed or Klonoa having big ears. In the end, FazzEagle decided to go for his tail. "I thought it would be easy, you know. Just make something out of the tail. But then I realized that I have no idea what to put in the tail! Should I make it long? Should I make it magical? I actually tried several elements for this idea, starting with putting his tail on fire and suggesting to myself that he would have fire powers. But then when I see the character that way, I still felt like it wasn't right. I even changed his species just to fit with that fiery tail and it still didn't appeal to me. My friends sort of liked it, but I didn't. Then, that's when it hit me. All of these ideas involved the character swinging his tail and smacking his enemies, and I figured the answer was right there! So I made a few more design changes and I made his tail bigger, and much, much stronger. It was then that I felt the character was so simple, yet he was so unique. Goes to show you that even the simplest thing may need to go through the most complicated of ways. And his name? Well, same thing happened. I laughed that time." The creation of the character would progress rapidly after that - though FazzEagle actually came up with the final design after some 'random doodling' in school. He gave the character two 'antennas' and made his 'hair' look like that of the quills of Sonic the Hedgehog. The final change was his ears. Being a Klonoa OC, FazzEagle knew that most fan characters would have ears like Klonoa himself. However, he wanted to do it differently. He made the ears smaller, and it was said that he did it just so he could say that his character 'doesn't have big ears, but has a big tail'. In terms of personality, FazzEagle was wondering whether to give him a 'cool' personality or a 'cute' personality. In the end, he decided to mix the two up and go for 'Heroic'. FazzEagle wanted the character to appeal to not only people of his age, but to people of all ages as well. Iron Tail was then portrayed as a 'kid who wanted to be what other kids want: a Hero' - something FazzEagle actually really dreamed of during his childhood after watching several super heroes on television.' ' After a while, FazzEagle decided to give another unique trait to the character after looking over Klonoa's Dream Ring. He thought just relying on swinging a tail around may not always be so easy and something like that can get dull over time. Therefore, he gave Iron Tail the concept of the 'Magical Bracelet', the powerful relic that chose Iron Tail to be its new master, giving him more range in his choice of attacks even though Iron Tail himself doesn't exactly understand how it works. This would also give the character a reason to go up against villains, who would want to get their hands on it. Personality ''' Iron Tail is portrayed to be a young boy who possesses a Heroic personality. He would not think twice about protecting the weak and helping others when they are in need. In short, he has the personality of a typical hero. However, he is also very humble for his age as he is never shown to brag about his successes and would always put others' needs before his own. He's also known to be very cheerful and very loyal to his friends and allies to the point he would go to any measures to aid them if he can. His views on friendship can be summarized in his words: 'How your friends are being friends to you is not as important as how you are being their friends'. Unfortunately, because he's still young and doesn't have much knowledge about the world around him, Iron Tail can be very naive, which often leads his friends and himself into trouble. He also believes that 'heroes always fight the bad guys', but he would never try to actually kill them - again, this could lead himself to more trouble. He can even be very stubborn at times when people go against his personal views of various subjects, as shown when he told '''Ashes Darkmare that he could win against anyone as long as he has the bracelet and that heroes don't lose, which upsets him when Ashes told him that he can't win everything with the bracelet. He also idolizes the 'Great Hero' from the Ancient Texts, stating that he was his inspiration to become one himself, but claims he will become an even greater hero. He has a strong rivalry with Evil Tail, the Great Evil from the legends who took the form as Iron Tail's doppleganger, because he is the 'biggest villain of all time', and Evil Tail does the same, developing that strong rivalry over the fact that Iron Tail is a 'hero'. In 'Misadventures of Iron Tail', a spin-off from the Iron Tail series where the characters' personality are exaggerated in comical ways, Iron Tail is shown to be childish, annoying and obsessed with becoming a Hero (even to the point that he draws his own comic featuring himself as the main character'). In this spin-off, a running gag is that he seems to think that everything is either a game or an adventure - from being on a pirate ship, to simply getting groceries from a nearby shop. Appearance ''' Iron Tail has gone through several design changes before he reached his final design. The most notable is that his tail used to be on fire and that he resembles a lot like Tails from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. His final design portrays him as a catfox with black and white fur, the latter mostly on the ends of his ears, limbs and chest area. His ears droop down, a homage to Klonoa's ears, and he has two 'antennas' sticking out of his head. His pupils are yellow and they're round and child-like. His tail is big and long as his own body though somewhat flat. In terms of clothing, Iron Tail is known to not wear any shirts or pants, but instead wears his yellow scarf. A pair of wristbands are secured around his wrists (though many mistake his hands to be gloves), and his shoes (which had the most changes) are currently yellow and black colored sneakers with black socks underneath, matching with his overall color scheme. The Magical Bracelet around his tail has a simple design, with the base being black and the rims being yellow. A green diamond is carved into the center of the base. In '''Iron Tail: Battle Royal, Iron Tail is equipped with a belt, where his weapons - a pair of tonfas granted by the bracelet - hang. This is the first time Iron Tail is shown to wield any sort of weapons. Background ''' In the series, Iron Tail's background starts off simple, showing that he was living in a small village surrounded by the Great Forest and mountains, seperating the inhabitants from the outside world. He lived there with his grandfather, whose name was never revealed, and he was well-known among the people as the kid who dreams on becoming a Great Hero like the one found in the Ancient Text. The series started off with him attempting to rescue a young villager from being bullied, but due to his carelessness and overconfidence, Iron Tail's plan backfired and he got rediculed for it (though the young villager was still thankful that he came to her rescue). Upset, he went back home to his grandfather, who apparently knew what happened since it wasn't the first time he got into this kind of trouble. His grandfather told him that being a Hero is a difficult task but showing optimism, Iron Tail claimed that it was his destiny. The next day, he climbed onto the highest ground in the village to look over the Great Forest, having done this several times as well as he wondered what was on the other side. Since the people from his village never left in years, hardly anyone knows what's out there except for his grandfather, who has various books - though they were outdated. That night, Iron Tail was running late from home and overheard a conversation between his grandfather and a good friend of his, where they talk about Iron Tail's dream of becoming a Hero and how his grandfather was worried about him one day leaving and leaving him alone. At that time, Iron Tail caught sight of a shadow lurking among the trees and decided to follow it. It was '''Sehsa Nightmare, infiltrating the village by orders of her 'Master' in order to get her hands on an ancient relic that could be found in the Cave of the Ancients. The cave, however, was closed by a powerful spell and no one in the village knew how to break it, but to Iron Tail's surprise, Sehsa was able to do so, opening a path into the cave. Iron Tail decided to follow quietly after her, thinking that if he stops her himself, he'd finally be recognized as a 'Hero'. That, and he was curious of what was within the cave. As he went deeper into the cave, he was eventually caught up by Sehsa Nightmare at the Relic Chamber, who threatened to kill him now that he knew why she was here. Iron Tail tried fighting her, but she proved to be too powerful for him to handle. She knocked him across the chamber until he hits his back on the pedestal in the middle, where a strange rock sits. Though defeated and obviously outmatched, Iron Tail did not admit defeat and continued to stand back up, stating that a real Hero never gives up. Having witnessed Iron Tail's amazing courage and dedication to being a 'Hero', the strange rock revealed itself to be the Magical Bracelet that Sehsa was seeking, and the light blinded her just before she could deliver the final blow. Though surprised at what just happened, he was forced into another fight, but surprisingly he was able to fare better than earlier. In the end, Sehsa's own attacks caused the whole chamber to start collapsing on them and she made her retreat with magic. Iron Tail quickly ran out of the chamber and barely escaped, only to be greeted by the villagers who heard the commotion. His grandfather was surprised that the bracelet around Iron Tail's tail was indeed the Ancient Relic that was once owned by the Great Hero himself, and since that it was now around Iron Tail's possession, it could only mean that the bracelet actually chose Iron Tail to be its new owner. Though sadden by this fact, his grandfather was also proud of him, claiming that Iron Tail's destiny was indeed to become a great Hero. He then organized things so that Iron Tail could leave the village and become the very first person to leave the Great Forest and step into the outside world. After a heart-felt goodbye between him and the rest of the villagers, Iron Tail set out, leaving his village and entering the Great Forest - though he was worried that he might not be able to come back to meet his family and friends again. Despite that, he continued on, once again proud of his newfound 'destiny'. Abilities ''' Iron Tail has various abilities, but they mostly involve his tail and the Magical Bracelet. For one, his main ability is attacking his enemies with his iron-hard tail by swinging and smacking them. The strength of his tail is comparable to that of a hammer and as itself, it can be considered as a 'weapon'. This means he can sometimes use his tail as a tool on taking down obstacles. Other than using his tail, Iron Tail is also known to be quite good with kicks even though they're not as powerful as his tail. His other main abilities is the use of the bracelet, where he can unleash crescent-shape energy attacks towards his opponents. The bracelet could also make his tail much stronger in strength if he charges it. It is also a known ability that the bracelet can glow in the dark, which is very useful when Iron Tail and the others are exploring areas where there are no light. Most of the powers of the bracelet still remains a mystery, but it has the ability to power up Iron Tail so he could become 'Hero Tail', an 'Unlocked Potential' form or simply 'Super Form', where Iron Tail gets amazing strength, speed and endurance along with various new attacks. The bracelet, as seen in Iron Tail: Elementail, can also seem to absorb elements from the Elemental Shrines, granting Iron Tail the ability to use those elements in battle like fire, wind and water - though the powers seem to have disappeared at the end of the game. '''Allies Gem - Iron Tail's best friend and his very first comrade who has also been hinted as his love interest - even proving herself to be a powerful rival when she betrayed him to embrace her true origin. Seeing that both Iron Tail and Gem normally keeps a cheerful and positive attitude, the two get along very well. In the on-going anime and manga, it was revealed that Gem is the reincarnation of an evil sorceress who was close to being unstoppable until she was defeated by the Great Hero, and shocked that her destiny was to destroy the world, started being distant to Iron Tail and the others until she eventually betrays them and accepts her evil heritage. However, Iron Tail never lost faith in her and in the end, Iron Tail had to battle the reawaken Sorceress who had taken control of Gem. After defeating her, Gem reconciles with her friends. Romance was hinted between the two but they are still young to actually understand it. Ashes Darkmare '''- A master of the martial arts and the mentor of Iron Tail who taught him how to fight better without relying too much on the bracelet. First appeared in '''Adventures of Iron Tail: The New Evil, she revealed herself to be the twin sister of Sehsa Nightmare, who had then become Evil Tail's apprentice. Though strict, she has shown various times that she cares for Iron Tail's well-being and has taken a liking to his innocent personality, stating that people like him were 'rare these days'. Iron Tail holds great respect and faith in her as shown when Ashes told him and the others to leave her to fight her sister alone, in which Iron Tail knew she would win. Apart from that, she enjoys teasing Iron Tail and making jokes about his childish personality. Iron Claw '''- He first appeared in the first-ever Iron Tail game as a hunter hired to retrieve the Magical Bracelet from Iron Tail. A very serious person to boot, he normally finds Iron Tail's childish and reckless attitude to be annoying. He first appeared as an enemy who was too much for Iron Tail to handle, but surprisingly spared him to give him time to get stronger and fight him more seriously. Iron Tail saved his life when he was about to fall down and witnessing Iron Tail's determination to helping others, developed a new-found respect for the boy. In the sequel, he makes his return but was apparently mind-controlled but was granted new powers. He was the partner of Sehsa Nightmare. Eventually, Iron Tail defeats him again and snaps him out of the mind-control before later joining Iron Tail and the rest to go up against Evil Tail. '''Pan - Though the two are very different as Pan is more shy and timid than the energetic and outgoing Iron Tail, they care for one another as if they are brothers. This friendship extends to the point that Iron Tail would actually risk his own life to prove Pan's innocence and Pan willingly agreeing to fight back Evil Tail while unlocking the true potential of his 'curse'. Anastasia '''- The runaway princess got along with Iron Tail very quickly after their very first meeting as Iron Tail helped her escape the guards. Because of Iron Tail, Anastasia learned to stand up for herself and completely accepts her royal heritage. There had also been hints that she may have developed a crush on Iron Tail though he appears oblivious to this. When they parted ways and said their goodbyes during the parade, a tear runs down her eye before she tells Appricot that she had actually hoped that Iron Tail had agreed to ruling her kingdom alongside her. '''Auroria - The mysterious being that usually visits Iron Tail through out the series and it said to be the being that resides within the bracelet. Though her identity and origin remains unknown, the two seem to have developed a good relationship with each other, with Auroria admitting that Iron Tail was 'cute'. Also, she regards Iron Tail as a Hero and states that she would accept no one else as such. Enemies The Dark Lord Vaalga - The main antagonist of the first Iron Tail game who wanted to get his hands on the Magical Bracelet so he could conquer the world. Very powerful in magic, he gave Iron Tail a very hard time and even came close to killing him. Iron Tail eventually defeats him and restores the world back into peace, sparing his life as Iron Tail would take one. Iron Tail hardly faces him anymore since Sehsa Nightmare and the others all abandoned him for Evil Tail, but he does come across him every now and then in the series but usually for comic relief (only in the manga and anime). In the games, he faces Iron Tail as an optional boss, now going by the name of 'Overlord Vaalga'. Evil Tail - Perhaps his biggest and most strongest rival and enemy to date, Evil Tail has become a recurring enemy for Iron Tail because he continuously attempts to take over the world and becomes its feared ruler. Though Evil Tail did not care much about Iron Tail back then, seeing him more as a 'child who plays hero', Evil Tail started to accept Iron Tail as a worthy rival and would try to get the Magical Bracelet every now and then. Despite being enemies, the two seem to have respect for each other's abilities as Evil Tail now calls Iron Tail 'Hero' and Iron Tail never underestimating Evil Tail's power. There are even times when they have to work together to fight against a common enemy such as in Adventures of Iron Tail: The Awakening, where Iron Tail and Evil Tail are forced to work together because a curse was cast upon them. Sehsa Nightmare '''- Though she is the twin sister of his mentor, she has made it known that she is a threat to his friends and allies. Having first met in Iron Tail's village, Sehsa became enraged as she was continuously defeated by a 'brat' and continues to get in his way through out the series. It was revealed that Iron Tail thought Sehsa was 'scary' as after he defeats Iron Claw in the first sequel, claimed that he was worried Iron Claw would turn out to be as scary as Sehsa. Unlike her sister, Sehsa hates his childish and innocent personality. However, it has been hinted that she does acknowledge him as a worthy hero and even spared his life in return for him saving her own at one point. '''Darkhood - A mysterious enigma whose face is hidden underneath a hood who appears as Iron Tail's enemy but is not working alongside Evil Tail. Iron Tail is not exactly sure who Darkhood is and whether or not he's evil or good. He appears throughout the series to either keep Iron Tail and the others from reaching their destination or targer, but even helps them at times for no reason. He is the only enemy that Iron Tail has never defeated yet but he appears as an optional boss at some games - though at defeat, he retreats by teleporting away. It is hinted that he's actually Iron Tail's father or a relative of his since he seems to have similiar yet crooked 'antennas' like Iron Tail himself. He's also the only person Iron Tail and Evil Tail are both cautious about. Unlocked Potential With the power of the bracelet reaching a certain high point, it grants Iron Tail the ability to become stronger. Unlike the Super Form of Sonic the Hedgehog, nothing much changes on Iron Tail except for the fact that he would be equipped with arm and leg guards. Notably, the back of his hair grows longer and his ears rise up. He would also be surrounded by a green aura when he powers up and unleashes powerful attacks. In this form, Iron Tail possesses superhuman strength, speed, endurance and powerful magic. However, not much is known what actually triggers the transformation but it usually happens during a critical point and when his allies share their powers with him when facing against a seemingly unbeatable enemy. Nevertheless, the transformation would take a lot out of Iron Tail's energy and he usually falls unconscious or too tired to move. The Great Hero was known to be able to trigger this transformation with ease however. On the other hand, despite his lack of knowledge how to trigger this transformation, Iron Tail has been able to unlock the potential of the bracelet to a whole other level, granting him godly strength in the form of Legendary Tail (perhaps a homage to the Hyper Form from the Sonic the Hedgehog series). Iron Tail has only been able to achieve this level once during a fight against Evil Tail's 'True Form' at the end of Iron Tail: Legendary Hero. It was at this point that Evil Tail recovered to his original form, proving to everyone that he has never lied about his true powers by defeating them all with ease, including Hero Tail. With the fate of the world at great stake, people from around the world shared their energy with Iron Tail, filling him with so much power that he actually broke the limit of the bracelet's power to become Legendary Tail. In this form, his fur and armor becomes completely white (the latter with some gold and green) and the bracelet itself changed into a different form. Iron Tail possessed god-like strength and speed at that point, being able to match himself against the godly Evil Tail and eventually defeat him. This was the only time he used this form as it never happened again.